Forever Rest in Peace
by shel-belle
Summary: AU. His name is Jack Frost. His sister's dead, mother too unstable to care for him, father 'out of the picture'. He doesn't look like his sister did so that makes sense. Shipped off to Cali with his uncle. His name is freaking Jack Frost. Like in the legend, personification of winter. He'd melt like a snowflake, oh, and don't forget the ghosts following him around. He's not crazy.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own. **

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"Um..." Tatiana White cranes her head to read the name scribbled on the paper. And, boy, scribbled really is the right word. She can't even make out any of the letters. "I think we're supposed to be partners. For this...thing," she finishes lamely after realizing she doesn't know how to pronounce the name of their class presentation project. She and her friends agreed that Spanish was more widely used in California than French, which was her only other option. She heard Spanish spoken several times and knew the basic-basics. Extremely basic-basics. Like _hola_ and _amigo_. Oh, look at her, repeating words for emphasis like her four-year-old sister. Her younger cousins think her sister (nicknamed Baby Ana) is annoying but they admire Big Ana plenty. Five of her cousins living in California are girls and there's one boy, Adam. Two pairs of twins and lone Adam again. Adam is thirteen and going through a teen rebellion stage.

"Ten more minutes!" Sra. Ellis calls out loudly, playing with a dry-erase marker and rolling it between her hands. She's a new teacher here and her voice goes alarmingly high when she's excited. Which is always.

"Oh my gosh," Ana says, super-fast, like she does when she's about to panic. "How are we going to do this? How am _I_ going to do this? Oh my gosh, you're not going to help are you? Okay, okay, Ana, take a deep breath and calm down!" She takes in gaspy, shuddering breaths and keeps on going until her hands stop trembling with nervous energy.

The albino sitting next to her calmly scrawls something in his notebook and pops a cookie in his mouth. A whole chocolate chip cookie. Ana watches in horror as he chews four times and then swallows.

"That's going to ruin your teeth, you know. All that chocolate and sugar and it's only eight something in the morning. Didn't you have breakfast? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it helps your metabolism. Never skip it. Here, have an apple."

And Tatiana is off on mother-hen mode again. See, this is what babysitting does to you. Once, she bumped her knee on a desk or something and exclaimed in her loud, cheery voice that her boo-boo was fine and didn't need a band-aid. It was just a little scratch that clotted after half a second. Then her brain caught up with what she said and she ran out with the hall pass, excusing herself to go to the restroom to clean it up.

The boy quirks up an eyebrow at the apple but accepts it with what could maybe considered as a very, very, very weak smile. On second thought...no, a long-lasting twitch? His teeth are hardly showing but - oh, is that chocolate?

"You have a chocolate smudge on that tooth." Ana demonstrates by tapping on one of her own pearly whites. She watches his tongue rub at a tooth not even close to it. "Five teeth over to the left - my left, your right...or maybe the other way around...hmm..." Ana makes two '_l_' shapes with her hands and clarifies. "The second one. Your left, my right. A little bit lower and...you got it! Okay, dilemma over."

She can't help that sigh of relief but at least it earns her a small but all-teeth smile from him. My, are they beautiful. Perfect squares and white and looking surprisingly well cared for. The gums are a healthy pink too. He must floss daily. His teeth look almost as good as hers.

"Five more minutes!"

"Oh, f-flapjacks!" Ana blushes when she realizes she accidentally censored herself. High school kids cuss. And as a freshman, she is a high school kid. But, oh, the downside to loving little kids. Tatiana busies herself with skimming the directions of the assignment and smiles in relief. "Okay, not too bad. Hola, me llamo Tatiana White. ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cuál es tu color favorito?"

The boy rips out a sheet of his notebook and sticks it in her hand, uncurling her fingers and folding them over the paper like it's nothing unusual. "Done."

His voice. Deep and not cracking at all like Nick's does. Well, Aster's is pretty deep too but his accent and... Wow, this boy's voice. He's barely taller than her from what she can tell (they're both sitting but she can meet his eyes directly without looking up).

"But that's not fair. You're not supposed to do all the work. It's my grade too and how would you even know my parts or if I'll know how to say them? You probably got all the personal parts of my lines wrong. Do you even know my name? What if this little skit becomes the first F I ever get?" Ana would probably babble on for a lot longer, but the boy is giving her a death glare.

"Just. Read. It," he growls, yanking the blue hood lower over his face.

She nods meekly and makes a show of reading it. But... "Your handwriting. Sorry, I can't read it. I got as far as the date...which is all in numbers...and, um?"

He groans and drags a pale hand over his face before hurriedly explaining the roles and Tatiana finds herself nodding appreciatively. This guy is smart. She probably won't remember much of the words and her pronunciation is absolutely horrendous (on her defense, this is the first day of Spanish 1 and he doesn't sound much better) but their presentation will be about a blue chair, a gray office swivel chair, and eight yellow pencils. Also, he is going to sing the ABCs at random intervals and that chick song (the one with the chicks an the chicken getting cold or something; he doesn't even know the meaning of it, just the first two verses) and then they will bow. See, the thing with a very limited vocabulary is that there can be no plot and at least their presentation won't be the 'hello, my name is' and 'let's be friends' that basically the whole class is stealing from the textbook.

Jack (that's his name; the teacher just called them up to present) starts by counting the pencils and Tatiana exclaims the color. They end by Jack offering her the blue chair of amigos which she accepts with a corny smile and Jack spins once on the swivel chair and they both stand to bow.

Sra. Ellis gives them a standing ovation and praises their creativity (though it's not like she really had a choice; they stole the poor woman's chair). The class is doing the best they can to disguise their laughter. One girl is having such a dramatic coughing fit that the teacher said she could postpone her skit for the next day.

Ana shares a smile with Jack who also looks like he's valiantly trying to suppress giggles.

_What a lovely way to start her first day of high school_, Tatiana thinks to herself after Jack snorts embarrassingly loudly. She does burst into giggles then too and when an image of Jack singing the chick song and flapping his arms pops in her head, she shrieks with laughter.

Sra. Ellis is trying to keep a straight face, but the happy crinkles at her eyes give her away.

"We are brilliant," Ana says to Jack with the familiarity of an old friend. She throws an arm around his neck and is pleasantly surprised when he doesn't flinch away. "Come on." Tatiana takes his cold hand (it's a hundred something degrees out and he's wearing a hoodie but the school AC is questionable) and they sashay back to their seats. Or, rather, she sashays and he looks at her oddly but mimics her walk when she stares back at him for maybe a bit too long.

The rest of the presentations are dull but the teacher is still captivated by her first-ever students so it's easy for Ana to sneak a note on Jack's desk.

'_Just to make sure, are we friends?'_ It reads. '_CIRCLE yes or no'_

Jack considers this.

Tatiana drums her fingers on her binder.

He bites his lip.

She mentally swoons over his fabulous teeth.

He rummages around his backpack for a pen.

She holds her breath.

And the bell rings.

Jack gives up in his search for a writing utensil, looks up at her and gives a terse little nod.

Ana claps her hands excitedly before realizing her new friend is already out the door. She grabs her stuff, squeezes past the mass of people, and spots his white head immediately. "Jack!" She shouts, loudly enough for the people next to her to give her dirty looks and scoot away.

He turns and looks directly at her, tapping a nonexistent watch on his hand before walking off again, a tad quicker than before.

Tatiana curses under her breath and follows his white hair easily with her eyes. His locker is by the three hundreds, close to where Sandy's is. They share a class in two more periods so she can talk to him before lunch. Maybe... No. It's not worth it to lose her phone literally at the start of the school year.

Ana sighs and heads off to the gym. Oh, joy. Phys Ed. Her least favorite subject, if it's even considered that. With her luck in all things athletic-y, she'd get the meanest teacher with the weekly miles... And Aster wonders why she hates P.E. so much. It wasn't even like _he _ever had to take it, seeing how he was doing sports. Jumping jacks in second grade are very different from timed miles.

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**A/N: **Hey. This is for CottonCandy1234's RotG Epic Battle of the Fanfictions. Prompt is high school AU; winner will be decided by amount of reviews at the end, so please review. This story is pretty slow moving and gets interesting in a few more chapters, meaning that's when the ghosts will pop up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or any of the characters; Dreamworks and William Joyce do.**

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"What?" snaps the boy sitting across the room from him.

Jack pastes an innocent smile on his face and tries to ignore the distraction tapping her fingers on his forehead. He subtly pushes his hood down and the hand with it. He can feel cold shooting through him and he's immediately grateful for the oversized hoodie that hides his shivers.

The boy gives him a long, hard glare before turning back to the front of the classroom where the teacher is talking.

Jack promptly turns back his attention on Emma. She has her arms wrapped around his waist in an overenthusiastic hug and is blowing in his ear to annoy him. Lovely sister he has...had.

"Emma, leave me alone," Jack whispers, hoping that nobody can hear him. "Go bother someone else."

Emma detaches herself from Jack only to sit on his desk. "But, Jaack-" Here she does her best pout. "-I'm bored and there's nothing to doo! Why don't you _ever_ want to play with me anymore? Is it because you think I'm not real? Cause I am, you know. And nobody else can see me. It's only fun to haunt people who are scared. _They_ notice me...and then run for their lives. I'm not scary."

Jack's heart goes out to her. "We can go visit the graveyard after school and pick up a friend or two. But you have to keep them under control because I am not a killer. Got that?"

Emma beams at him and swings on the ceiling fan in excitement. "Yay! Do you think Jamie Bennett will be there again? He still can't see me but..." She blushes cutely and covers her face with both hands. Both hands.

Jack pales, trying to devise a way to catch her in time without anyone thinking that he's crazy.

Emma screams.

No. No. Not again. Jack speed-walks across the classroom to get a tissue.

He doesn't reach her in time.

With a last scream of, "_Jack_! Jack, help me! I don't want to go back there!" Emma disappears through the carpet.

"_Stop_ staring at me," the same boy from before growls, raking his hand through his hair in agitation.

Jack gives him an apology, a corners-up smile, gets his tissue, pretends to blow his nose, and goes back to his seat - all the while staring at the carpet. If he strains his ears hard enough, he can still hear her screaming. The room seems much warmer now that she's gone so Jack takes off his hoodie and hopes he's not melting. That'd be embarrassing to explain.

He checks the time (nineteen more minutes before class ends) and leans back in his chair, trying to think up a plausible reason to go back to Pennsylvania.

Maybe his mom could have a crazy fit so he'd be obligated to visit. But, no, she really had gone mad and asking such a favor from her would be cruel. Or he could go to the local graveyard and make a deal with a ghost to go fetch his sister. But he isn't on good enough relations with any of the ghosts in California to ask anything of them. And from his past experiences, most ghosts are untrustworthy and liable to almost kill and leave people on the brink of death to posses them. The other ghosts are bitter and do as they please, spooking, haunting - the stereotypical ghoulish activities. Jack's unofficially his sister's host but they came to an understanding after she died that she would only be allowed to possess him in extreme situations for his safety or others'.

So his best bet is to find a young random ghost who's new enough to not be desperate for a host, strong enough to dig up a grave, retrieve his sister from her coffin, and be professional enough to reseal the grave so her remains wouldn't be disturbed. No biggie.

Jack jumps when the bell rings. That boy who hates him snickers and Jack decides he really doesn't like him. Jack gives him a dirty look and the one-fingered salute before gathering up his stuff and stalking out of the classroom._ Just a few hours before lunch_, Jack tells himself, gritting his teeth.

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"Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack," Tatiana says, each word accompanied by a kick to the back of his chair.

"Mmm?" He yawns and buries his face into his hands. "Ana? What? What's happening?"

"You have to wake up. Class is about to start. I let you sleep through the intro (the hello-I-am-your-teacher-and-this-is-what-I-expect part) but this is the first assignment of the year. Don't you want to make a good impression?"

Jack sighs and rubs the sleep from his eyes. "This is what?" He glances around the classroom. Maps, books, globes, travel stuff, and odd little knickknacks. "History? I already kn-" Jack bites his tongue before he can say anything self-incriminating. "I know most of the material," he revises, careful to not mention that he learned from ghosts.

He could see them before Emma died but kept it to himself, wanting to seem sane. His mother was always a little emotionally fragile with an obsessive desire to be normal (wasn't she already the most normal one in the family?) and Emma's death was the last straw.

Jack remembers going to random funerals to see ghosts either try to hide back in their corpses or search for the road to heaven and he would quietly explain to them what happened to make them ghosts. Nobody who lived their life and was satisfied - no regrets at all - ever became a ghost. So what they have to do is to lose their regrets - which is near impossible, by the way, if no one can see you - in order to find peace within themselves and join the world of the dead. Or something. The ghosts who disappeared sometimes left a note, most of the time not, and then were simply never seen again. And from what Jack knows, ghosts are invincible once they can harness and control their powers. The reason why new ghosts are so weak is that their energy leaks out of them and when they can plug it up (sheer will, Jack guesses, because the answers vary).

"Jaaack," Ana whines, waving a hand in front of his face. "You're zoning me out."

He apologizes and reads out the directions aloud, jotting them down quickly to appease her. By the way she's frowning at his awful handwriting, he's not too sure it worked. "It's due in a week," he explains to her disapproving stare at seeing it stuffed carelessly in his binder, "I've got plenty of time."

Tatiana _mhmm'_s and places her neatly written notes carefully in her 3-ring binder.

Jack notices she has labels written out and it seems to be color coded. It suits her, Jack decides, along with her blue, pink, yellow, and green dyed hair, rainbow beads, and nice outfit. He'd describe it as as pink flowery top, yellow and green ruffle-y skirt, and some really high heels, neon everything in color. Though everything probably is designer and has fancy names and he really isn't doing it much justice by his describing skills.

She clears her throat, one eyebrow arched. "Yes?" _  
_

"Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. You're pretty, that's all." Jack blushes beet red and waves his arms around frantically. "Not," he chokes out, "like that. You look like my sister. The way you smile and talk and just...I should shut up now."

"No, go on." Tatiana tries to hide her smile.

"Her name's Emma...was Emma." You see, the thing with ghosts is that they're extremely sensitive to tenses. Accidentally use past with one who is in denial and find yourself with a chill that won't go away for months. Do the opposite to the wrong ghost and you get the same results. Jack rubs his hands together nervously, even though he knows that his innocent kid sister would never harm him purposefully. "She's dead."

"I'm sorry," Tatiana blurts out, belatedly remembering how explosively Aster reacted to meaningless apologies after he lost his family.

"It's fine," Jack gives her a smile that seems too big for this situation. "I see her sometimes. Her grave, I mean. Or at least I used to...back in Burgess...couldn't really bring her along... But, um." Jack stares at her hand on top of his, turning even redder.

"Yeah?" Ana threads her fingers through his nervously.

"I don't, um, like, um, yeah," he finishes lamely, looking at her helplessly.

"I see," she says slowly and pats the back of his hand. "Thanks for telling me." She hopes that whatever it is, she can infer by what he says next.

"Girls," Jack blurts, face so red by now it looks a queer shade of purple. "I don't like them. Like that," he adds unnecessarily.

"Okay," Tatiana says again, very slowly.

"Uh-huh," Jack agrees, nodding real fast. "So, um."

"Yes?"

"Sorry. I was going to make small talk about the weather..." he trails off and gestures at the only window showing a lovely view of the hall.

"Ah," Tatiana nods wisely. "If it's freezing in here, then it must be burning out there. Aren't you hot in that?"

"Better than burning." Jack rolls up a sleeve to show her a very, very pale arm. "I have allergic reactions to several different brands of sunblock and a rash is hardly preferable to a sunburn."

The bell rings and saves them from continuing that painfully awkward conversation.

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**A/N:** Apparently I can't write Aster because I tried, reread and he was so OOC it was embarrassing. By the way. That guy who hates Jack is Aster and Emma was floating above his head by the ceiling fan across from Jack. Kept it vague to be safe. And I added in Jack's not-relationship with Tooth because some people were asking and I cut out a part that'll be in the next chapter.

Thank you to all who read and special thanks to 321night .dreamer, AmaraRae, Asbit, Guest, and LightMyBulb for following and/or reviewing.


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